[rogerv]

BTW, I think urban sprawl is precisely what happened from lack of planning. It is a case of the unintentional consequences of intentional actions (e.g., our embrace of the personal motor vehicle with internal combustion engines has had all sorts of unintended, and even unwelcome consequences, as well as the good and intended ones). This is not something government created, but is a feature of human actions in general.

I agree however that there have been lots of cases of aggressive land grabbing that followed some misconceived imperative to develop more roads. That is a problem for which short sighted municipal governments should rightly be blamed.

[jackbob]

BTW, I think urban sprawl is precisely what happened from lack of planning.

There are several problems as I see related to urban sprawl. The largest of which is not government planning, but rather popular expectations of government. Urban sprawl that occurs naturally, is not a negative. That is where those who choose to move out, away from the conveniences of the city, do so knowing that the conveniences will be lost, or have to be paid for at their true market values. This has not been the case.

Urban planners, first drive out people who want to keep the freedom they were accustomed to on private property in the cit.y. They then demand increased service that they are not entitled to. That brings everyone else. Today of course, the entire process has been corrupted, with entire industries continuing the process. It is no longer initiated by a few people wanting their freedom.

To me the challenge is not in what is happening outside the urban areas, but what is going on in the urban areas. The modern frontier that needs to be tamed, is the urban frontier. Give those people freedom, and the rest of the problem will take care of itself.